Judges From China Visit County Court

Zhang Zixiang, a judge from the Henan province of China, wants the Far East and the West to find more common legal ground.

So Zhang is heading a delegation of 17 Chinese judges on a two-week visit to the United States, intended to expose the group to the daily workings of the American legal system and to encourage the exchange of legal philosophies.

“Good things can be learned from each country for the good of the people,” Zhang said Tuesday during a tour of the Ventura County Courthouse.

The delegation--made up of representatives from the judges’ association of the Henan province--chose Ventura as a stopping point because it has the technological advantages of a big-city courthouse without the big-city crowds, according to Li Fusheng, an interpreter accompanying the group.

During their half-day visit, the judges observed two cases: a sentencing hearing and a small claims trial. They then were led into a discussion by Superior Court Judge Steven Z. Perren, who was presiding at the first trial.

Perren was surprised by one divergence between the U.S. and Chinese systems. “They have no counterpart that orchestrates the executing arm of the court,” as a sheriff does in the United States, he said. So after a Chinese judge renders a verdict, he said, there is no one to see that the sentence is carried out.

But Perren said he found encouragement in the fact that the People’s Republic of China sent judges to observe the U.S. system.

The visit tests the common American misconception that China operates under a closed environment, he said.

“I was very excited by their aggressive interest, their openness and their incredible civility,” Perren said.

Zhang, who also serves as the deputy director of the Higher People’s Court of the Henan province, said that despite their many differences in legal methods, both the United States and Chinese legal systems share the common goal of serving the people in their pursuit of justice.

The exchange of information during visits such as this will benefit both countries, he said.